The present application relates to systems and methods for performing surgery in a patient, and more particularly, but not exclusively, relates to systems and methods that employ instruments for accessing the spinal column and other locations within the body of a patient.
Traditional surgical procedures for pathologies located within the body involve extensive and lengthy cutting, removing, and or repositioning of skin and tissue surrounding the surgical site in order for the surgeon to access the surgical site. This type of approach may cause trauma, damage, and scarring to the tissue, and also presents risks that the tissue will become infected and that a long recovery time will be required after surgery for the tissue to heal. In some cases, these invasive procedures lead to permanent scarring and pain that can be more severe than the pain leading to the surgical intervention.
Minimally invasive surgical techniques are particularly desirable in, for example, spinal and neurosurgical applications because of the need for access to locations deep within the body and the presence of vital intervening tissues. The development of percutaneous minimally invasive spinal procedures has yielded a major improvement in reducing recovery time and post-operative pain because they require minimal, if any, muscle dissection and can be performed under local anesthesia. These benefits of minimally invasive techniques have also found application in surgeries for other locations in the body where it is desirable to minimize tissue disruption and trauma. Current techniques for minimally invasive surgery can involve prolonged tissue retraction and require advancing instruments into the body directly against tissue to increase the size of the access portal before an appropriately sized access portal to the surgical site is provided. These aspects of current techniques can lead to greater tissue morbidity and increased complexity and duration of the surgical procedure. Thus, there remains a need for further improvements in the devices, instruments, assemblies, apparatuses, systems and methods for performing minimally invasive and other surgical techniques.